Advani tops leader board; Arantxa, Meenal set up summit clash

Twelve-time World Champion Pankaj Advani carried on his sublime form to the snooker championship, topping the league tables after winning all his matches in the National Snooker Championship Wednesday with effortless ease.

He glided past his opponents, Akshay Kumar of Uttar Pradesh, Assam's Sukumar Barman, Ankit Kariwala of West Bengal, and Haryana's Assem Arora, without giving them a sniff of a chance here at the Bengal Rowing Club.

Kamal Chawla of Railways also lived upto his reputation, winning all his league matches without dropping a frame. In the process, the duo occupied the top two spots after re-seeding was done at the end of the league encounters.

Group A

Pankaj Advani beat Akshay Kumar of UP 3-0
135(135)-00, 129(51, 78)-00, 95(66)-01

Pankaj Advani beat Sukumar Barman of Assam 3-0
92(83)-06, 106(106)-04, 129(113)-00

Pankaj Advani beat Ankit Kariwala 3-0
60-19, 96 (95)-13, 92 (68)-20

Pankaj Advani beat Assem Arora of Haryana 3-0
77 (63)-01, 71-06, 117(105)-10

In the Ladies Billiards championship, Maharastra's Arantxa Sanchis set up the summit clash with state-mate Meenal Thakur after demolishing Vidya Pillai 2-0 in the quarters.

In the semi-finals Wednesday, Sanchis beat Chitra M. of Karnataka 2-0, with the scores reading 75-72, 76-10.

In the other semi final, Thakur won the see-saw battle 2-1 (Scores: 77-20, 25-74, 77-18) against Karnataka's R. Umadevi.

Scores

Semi-finals

Arantxa Sanchis (Maharashtra) beat Chitra M. of Karnataka 2-0
75-72, 76-10

Meenal Thakur (Maharashtra) beat R. Umadevi (Karnataka) 2-1
77-20, 25-74, 77-18

Quarter-finals

Arantxa Sanchis (Maharashtra) beat Vidya Pillai (Karnataka) 2-0
50-05, 52-26

Chitra M. (Karnataka) beat Amee Kamani (Madhya Pradesh) 2-1
50-40, 31-50, 52-45

R. Umadevi (Karnataka) beat Judy Walia (Karnataka) 2-0
52-42, 51-29

Meenal Thakur (Maharashtra) beat Neena Parveen (Tamil Nadu) 2-0
51-33, 50-20